I should clarify that I am not really shopping for a lock. The idea for this thread came about because I was considering removing the generic cable lock from my seat post, as I never use it and all it really does is scratch the hell out of my inner thighs.

What I was looking to do was to generate some conversation about simpler ways to secure a bike, specifically by securing the cranks. Perhaps by putting this challenge out there, someone will invent the next billion dollar bicycle accessory.

VERY cool. THAT's wot om tawkin about!

Certainly not the bike security method to end all bike security methods! But easy enough to put the bike in low gear and orient the lock so that 1/2 of that 1/2 rotation is the cranks turning through top dead center/bottom dead center.

Horses for courses. Down at the public library in my quiet town you'll find unlocked bikes. A little pocketable padlock like this would make your bike the most secure one in the rack.

That looks like it would be effective.

Do you think it would do any damage if you tried to ride on it?

It could hurt the derailleur if you pedaled backwards. But peddling forwards I'm thinking at most it might scratch up the inside of the chrainring, as in the ridge on the opposite side of the teeth, as in no big deal.

If you could combine that with a method to keep it from going backwards into the derailleur you might have something

For fixes and SRAM set ups with a single gear up front this might be a great out of the box solution

With a different (larger shackle, but still much smaller/lighter that a typical U-lock) padlock one might lock the chainwheel to the right chainstay. This 'locks the cranks', but the bike could still be rolled away (freewheeled) forwards.

Upper bound: with my Rockymounts Carlito U-lock I can lock the frame/rear wheel/crank, and it only weighs ~360g.

Hmm, let's see. In one direction, a U-lock's entire shackle is exposed and can be cut. In another direction, using a padlock that isn't designed to hide its shackle when applied just exposes more of the shackle to attack. In another direction, that little disk lock, with its hardened steel shackle tight around the chain and chainwheel, is going to be harder to cut than anything flexible (like cables and straps). In yet another direction, obviously that little disk lock doesn't provide the resistance to attack that, say, a Xena X2 would, but it's smaller, lighter and possibly something one already has around the house.

So where were you headed with your comment?

Lots of bikes stolen are not getting ridden away. Grabbed and loaded into a van/pickup

One good trick that urban bike messengers use (besides riding very simple 1-speed bikes with few components to pilfer) is to glue a nice fitting ball bearing into any hex head bolt so that the bearing would have to be painstakingly dug out before removing the part. Some pedals attach with a hex key only. So if you were worried about someone just stealing the pedals (as the OP headline suggests) then you just get those style pedals, install, then glue in the ball bearing.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...767bd9e64e.jpg
Source: https://www.bikehacks.com/bikehacks/...art-theft.html

This whole pedal security idea doesn't make sense...Even if the bike isn't rideable it can still be picked up and carried away or loaded up into a vehicle.

When I was in college and lived off campus (urban neighborhood) I left my bike in the back yard, easy visibility and access from the alley. It was about 1990, the bike was a cast-off 10sp Bianchi from a friend of my Dad's.

One day I went outside and found that my pedals had been stolen.

The bike was not locked up at all.

I will never know if that was just a prank from some college buddy that forgot to ever tell me about it

I think you are trying to devise a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Bikes do get cannibalized, but pedals don't get stolen, for whatever reason.

Aexcept afore a-my (admittedly anomolous) anecdote (above)

It's useful to install an alarm bell????

OP checking in.

This was never intended to be a discussion about how to avoid having your pedals stolen! Mine cost about fifteen bucks, so they are not an issue.

Also, I fully realize that a bike with any kind of value will be hauled away in a flatbed truck before it is ridden away. I guess I should have been clearer in explaining that I was thinking about a way to protect an average bike (like mine) against a simple ride-away theft, in which, perhaps, the thief is more interested in the thrill of getting away with it than in cashing in on a stripped frame or its parts. When I do overnight rides and need to stop at a 7-Eleven to pee, I mostly worry that some idiot will hop on my junker and take a joy ride just to express his disdain for bicycles and the tree-huggers who ride 'em.

If there's a way to keep that from happening, it might be worth a small investment.

Wouldn't any inexpensive locking device serve that purpose?
This one costs $5.99:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3fdc2097c9.jpg
https://www.harborfreight.com/combo-...ock-66689.html

Well, at least the rednecks are no longer a concern.

I don't have to "identify" as a redneck to dislike seeing rural people disparaged en masse.

I have never heard of a bike theft motivated by disdain for bikes or cyclists.

The problem is that a bike can be its own getaway vehicle. And they're small and thus easy to hide. That's why bike theft is a bigger problem than other kinds of theft. Crime is way down in NYC and Boston, but bike theft is still as bad as it ever was in the bad old days.

I still sometimes travel without a lock. I run into a store occasionally, and leave it out. Before I do that, I sabotage it by undoing the QRs on the wheels and sometimes the brakes. I push the shift levers forward so the bike will shift when pedaled. Of course, it's important to remember to undo all that before I ride away.

What friends and acquaintances have experienced is people stealing bikes from storefronts, etc., riding them a few blocks, then crashing them into a tree or throwing them down a hillside. This type of theft is certainly not ALWAYS committed by someone with disdain for cyclists, but a person has to have some sort of anger in them to do something so messed up.

I work with a lot of tough dudes who ride around in huge pickup trucks looking for people to screw around with, just for laughs. These guys are always talking about throwing things at "those f-ing $%&s in tights" or "accidentally" backing into somebody's expensive ride in a parking lot. So yeah, even if what I'm describing is not theft for theft's sake, it's still the act of bikes being ridden away from their rightful owners.

I like your idea of "sabotage"! Of course the paranoid side of me would be worried about the would-be thief injuring themselves and promptly trying to sue you...

As for the stuff Tom was talking about, I went to college with a kid that was into random acts of vandalism and destruction while drunk (which I didn't and don't condone, and which was indeed rather disconcerting). An unlocked bike would have a tempting target for mischief...

E/IR P/IE Do you know what a cattle wire is. Just like my uncle did when he attempted to stop his cows from walking through the fence. A simple electrical circuit. When they sit on the seat or grab the handlebars they complete the circuit. Add a 180 decibel alarm for effect and wala we have a rude awakening. OK so much for venting.

A couple of thoughts as another NY'er. First, I never leave a bike locked outside for any length of time. And when I do leave a bike outside it is my commuter that looks like crap although it has a full high end drivetrain, new wheels and other expensive parts. Second, with pedals you can get a pair of hex mounted types and carry a longish 8mm allen wrench like the one that came with my power meter Assioma pedals. And that is another thought, I put those on my commuter occasionally and those cost $$$$. I wouldn't leave them on my bike locked up outside, although I will in my office parking area since there is a security guard at the desk right there. But I take these off and swap them around easily enough and you can have a pair of pedals like that that are easy to remove and then you can thread a cable through the cranks. Another thing, when I'm running into a store I always thread my helmet through the wheels so nobody can jump on and pedal off without me seeing him fall to the ground first to kick the living shiiite out of him, and hopefully I have my carbon soled shoes on too. And always a store where I can keep it in view.

Mostly I just don't lock my bike up.

As for Copenhagen, I was there last summer and the bike rental shop seemed unconcerned about theft. They give you a lock that you would never use in NYC. There are piles of bikes at the Metro stations that look like they've been there for years, they can steal one of them.